Kennedy Center Introduces Hip Hop Culture Council

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts yesterday announced that it had created a Hip Hop Culture Council to help the Kennedy Center create new pathways and deepen public knowledge of Hip Hop, contribute to broader Center-wide initiatives, and strengthen the burgeoning Hip Hop Culture program at the Kennedy Center. Serving as advisors and ambassadors, the Council members will lend their talents and expertise in support of Hip Hop Culture at the Kennedy Center. Beginning this spring, members of the Council will bring their voices and ideas to help create, experiment, develop, and produce work at the Center. The Council’s founding members are: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Co-Founder of The Roots, DJ, Producer, Author, Lecturer; Bobbito García a.k.a Kool Bob Love, DJ, Filmmaker, TV/Radio Personality, Author, and Ballplayer; Common, Emcee, Actor, Poet & Film Producer; Fab 5 Freddy, Artist, Filmmaker, and Hip Hop Pioneer; Grandmaster Caz, Emcee, DJ, Historian, Hip Hop Culture Ambassador & Pioneer; Grant Hill, Owner/Vice-Chairman Atlanta Hawks, TNT/NBATV/CBS Broadcaster, and seven-time NBA All-Star; J.PERIOD, DJ, Producer & Musical Storyteller; Jason King, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Global Studies, NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music; Kierna Mayo, Writer, Brand Architect, Media Visionary & Senior Vice President of Content and Brands at iOne Digital; Large Professor, Emcee, Producer, DJ; LL COOL J, Emcee, Actor, Author, Entrepreneur, 2017 Kennedy Center honoree; MC Lyte, Emcee, DJ, Actress, Entertainer, Speaker, and Philanthropist; Pharoahe Monch, Emcee, Recording Artist, Producer; Mimi Valdés, Producer, Chief Creative Officer at i am OTHER Entertainment; Robert Glasper, Pianist, Composer, and Producer; Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Emcee, Co-Founder of The Roots, Actor; Xavier “X” Jernigan, Head of North America, Shows & Editorial and Host of Showstopper for Spotify; and 9th Wonder, Producer, DJ, College Lecturer, and Social Activist. “The Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture Council reflects the creative, social, and intellectual wealth of the Hip Hop community,” said Q-Tip, Artistic Director of Hip Hop Culture. “The members are the embodiment of what we stand for and all that we aspire to achieve with the Hip Hop Culture program.” More here.